HERMIT-CRAB. Ill 



iris shell, and, giving a kind of gymnastic leap (that 

 made me laugh heartily) from the place where he 

 stood, he dropped his tail with the greatest precision 

 into the aperture, adjusted his body, and galloped off 

 to some more favourable spot. 



This little incident taught him a lesson, from which 

 it was evident he profited on another occasion. In- 

 deed, the next day I found he had voluntarily taken 

 up with a shell much better suited to the calibre of 

 his body. 



It was very annoying, after I had waited so long 

 and patiently to see him "flit" to another residence, 

 to find that he had done it on the sly, and under the 

 shadow of night, like a swindler that had not paid 

 his rent. But many a time have I, in common with 

 other zealous observers, been similarly disappointed. 

 Most animals, especially simple ones such as those of 

 which I write, have a sweet will of their own, and 

 will not be forced, even in the slightest degree, to do 

 what their masters might wish. It is on this account 

 that it is so difficult to treat of their habits from per- 

 sonal observation. It not unfrequently occurs that 

 before a circumstance can be chronicled which, when 

 written, takes but a few minutes to read days, 

 weeks, and even months are spent in constant watch- 

 ings by the anxious student. 



I have found, at certain times, on placing several 

 Hermit-crabs in my tank, that they have quickly 

 left their shells and died. Yet, on other occasions, I 



